The ambiance at Traceys is breathtaking, and their close proximity to Lake Superior makes dining here a must if you’re in the area. The menu is elaborate and eye catching to anyone who has a foody bone in their body. Using words like “Lamb lollipops” and “American Wagyu.” As someone who has experienced true lamb lollipops and true American Wagyu beef, I can honestly say that the menu, in my opinion, is very misleading.

We started our meal with some cocktails and small plate appetizers. Traceys take on a manahtten was INCREDIBLE, and they’re sparkling Sangria was the perfect combination of sweet, sour, and bitter. The appetizers we ordered were the meatballs al forno and the seared steak tetaki. The seared steak dish was delicious and full of flavor, with the chili’s and roasted garlic adding beauty and flavor to the whole dish. Although it was on the salty side, I would order 100 times over! The meatball dish however was a MASSIVE DISAPPOINTMENT. The menu called it an al forno, meaning baked in the oven, but the dish was so cold we were certain it was meant to be served cold? The flavor was ok but not even close to worth what we paid for them. Seriously though, it was so cold we didn’t say anything because we were certain it was meant to be that cold.

For entrees we shared the lamb lollipops and the American Wagyu fillet. I was severely disappointed with the way the lamb lollipops were cooked and served. When I see the word “lollipop” next to a lamb dish on a menu I get real excited and can’t help but imagine 2-3 beautiful medium rare cuts of lamb plated to show off their medium rare beauty. The dish that Traceys produced was the complete opposite… the lamb was seared on each side and served medium, which lead to a more gamier flavor and did not render most of the fat cap. The sizes were also about half the size you would imagine them to be… The American Wagyu filet was cooked a perfect medium rare, however the steak was clearly not rested and all those wonderful juices and flavor bled all over the plate as soon as I cut into it which just ended up drying out the meat… the flavor was wonderful but lead me questioning if it was truly Wagyu or just some clever menu marketing to charge $60 dollars for a $25 dollar steak. The chocolate cake we had for desert was AMAZING! So amazing I wish we would’ve ordered another piece to go!

The restaurant was clearly understaffed, but I feel they made up for it with fast and effective service. Throughout our dining experience there was a tall gentlemen walking around, not sure if he is the GM or owner, but was clearly someone of an authoritative nature. He didn’t Introduce himself and we were questioning if he even worked at the establishment… but he made it very clear that he was more concerned about the type of scotch/bourbon he had on the liquor shelf then the concern he had for the guests and their dining experience. After a while we realized he worked there after he asked us how our meal was, after we said it was fine he walked away and didn’t say anything else.

All and all it was an ok experience, but no where near the expectations we had. Maybe we are too nit picky but if we are paying $200+ for a meal, I would expect every aspect of that meal to be memorable, flavorful, and warm…